Maro

Plenty of settlements cling to the sides of Akiton’s trenches, but none are half as spectacular as Maro, which stretches for miles along the Edaio Rift and nearly 3 miles vertically from the surface to the chasm floor. Its ancient epithet of “Thousand Lights” is now a laughable understatement, for the lights of millions of billboards, businesses, and residences compete for attention. In past ages, Maro suffered from considerable wealth disparities, but the city admirably shared the profits of the thasteron boom. This upward mobility—both figurative and literal—shook up the city’s hardwired social identities, triggering an ongoing cycle of creative media that continues to this day. Lately, Maro echoes with the shumka beats style that resounds off the chasm walls, and a rash of pig-growling (short for pigment-growling) has left the upper reaches vandalized with immense graffiti masterpieces sprayed from speeding hoverbikes.

Maro may be famed for its fashion and nightlife, but it’s also infamous for its gang warfare. The city’s relative prosperity attracted many ambitious and esperate souls as thasteron failed, and gangs formed to round up a quick credit from the unsuspecting urbanites. Maro’s citizens have learned how to avoid the worst side effects of the turf wars, few of which creep beyond the bottom mile of the city. Even so, recruiters frequent virtually every neighborhood, always on the lookout for new hotshots willing to join up.

Alternative Name(s)

Thousand Lights

Population

Around 5.6 millions (50% Ysoki, 20% red skin humans, 20% Ikesthi, 10% other)

Characters in Location

• Quig